C-NS girls lax drops rematch with West Genny

What the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team gained from its April 21 win at West Genesee, the Wildcats took right back.

Getting some revenge after two straight defeats to the Northstars, WG prevailed, 6-3, last Tuesday night in a hard-fought game at Bragman Stadium where the Wildcats continued a hot stretch that dated back a week.

C-NS was no. 8 in the latest state Class A rankings, one spot behind WG, but it was the visitors with all of the momentum since the Wildcats had avenged an earlier defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius and then gone on the road to stun defending state Class A champion CBA 6-5 on May 6.

Again, defense was the main story in this showdown, with both sides exchanging goals in the first half. Julia Alberici, Jessica Meneilly and Brenna Duffy all found the net for C-NS, yet WG still sneaked in front, 4-3, by halftime.

Then, during the entire second half, the Northstars found itself frustrated every time it tried to attack, with WG’s back line so effective that its goalie, Claudia Mocciaro, only had to make four saves.

Lauren Gilbert, trying to repeat her earlier great work against the Wildcats, made eight saves, but Eliza MacCaull twice beat her for goals three minutes apart to extend WG’s margin, and its defense made sure C-NS didn’t answer.

Those struggles carried over into Thursday’s game against Fayetteville-Manlius, who with its speed and skill gave C-NS all kinds of trouble, handing the host Northstars a 16-10 defeat to go with the 13-8 decision it claimed at home two weeks earlier.

For a while in the rematch, C-NS would keep pace, only trailing 7-5 at halftime, but F-M got away with a multi-pronged attack that had five different players score more than once, led by Amanda Cramer (five goals, one assist) and Kiera Shanley (three goals, one assist).

By contrast, the Northstars didn’t get much from anyone other than Meneilly, who poured in seven goals. Makena Scarlata did get two goals and one assist, while Alberici had the other goal. Duffy earned three assists and Olivia Massena got two assists.

Liverpool’s girls lacrosse team took its own blows, starting with last Tuesday’s 20-6 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius. Attempting to get closer than the 19-4 loss it took at home to the Hornets on April 21, the Warriors fell behind, 9-3, by halftime, and then saw it get further away.

Only Maia Henry scored twice for Liverpool, with single goals going to Brittany Halpin, Zoe Morgenroth, Emily Salanger and Bella Brancato. Halpin and Morgenroth added assists as F-M got four goals and two assists from Allison Macrae and Maddie Noel, with Jane Cote, Gemma Addonizio and Annie Steigerwald adding three goals apiece.

Things got better on Friday night, when Liverpool defeated the combined Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes squad 18-8 with a steady effort that, by game’s end, included 10 different goal-scorers. But it was Veronica Brancato, with five goals, leading the way as Megan Fitzpatrick got three goals and one assist.

Bella Brancato and Krystyna Sterio each had two goals and one assist. Halpin helped out with four assists, adding a goal as Henry had a goal and three assists. Salanger, Morgenroth and Colleen Tifft had the other goals, with Lexi Emmi picking up an assist.